The present invention relates to shoe sizing systems and more particularly, the invention relates to shoe sizing systems wherein measurements are taken on the wearer""s foot and the selected shoe separately.
The sizing of shoes is most commonly performed with the well-known Brannock device. Generally, the Brannock device is a metal foot measuring device that has sliders with scales printed on either the sliders or the platform on which a consumer places his/her foot for sizing. This device, however, has many serious drawbacks. The Brannock device can be difficult to use correctly and is used incorrectly by many within the shoe sales industry. As well, the device is generally used only to measure the length and width of a foot. Also, a person will generally have to visit a shoe store in order to be shoe-sized with the Brannock device.
There has for a long time been a substantial mail order business in many countries for various articles of clothing. An important issue in ordering clothing by mail order is that of sizing. For many articles of clothing, this is not too great a problem, as manufacturers have standard sizes and moreover, an exact fit is not critical. Shoes and other items of footwear present a different problem as it is much more important to get a good fit for shoes, and indeed, incorrectly sized shoes can permanently deform one""s feet. This is an even bigger problem with children, as their feet are growing and it is much more important to ensure that young, growing feet are provided the properly sized shoes. Accordingly mail order suppliers have searched for ways to enable consumers to properly select the correct shoe size.
With the growth of the Internet, the concept of mail order purchasing has been significantly revised and improved. There are many companies offering Internet-based services for ordering clothing. A major advantage of the Internet is that a consumer can have almost instantaneous contact with a supplier or web site offering clothing, etc. for sale. The consumer can additionally see images of items for sale on a screen and print out pages from a supplier""s web site. Many companies have attempted to use these characteristics to provide improved service to consumers and in particular to address the issue of selecting a correct shoe size.
Several companies, including Weebok(trademark) and Payless Shoe Source(trademark), provide shoe sizing systems on their Internet web sites which are respectively www.weebok.com and www.payless.com/corporate/customer_service/custsvc_faq_knowourshoes_shoesizer.html and nike.com. A consumer with Internet access and a printer, may print a shoe size chart from the web site, and use the chart to size the consumer""s feet. This system provides the shoe size chart very quickly, relative to the system described above. However, it often occurs that the shoe sizing chart is inadvertently printed at the incorrect scale. The measurements taken using the chart can therefore be in error due to the scale at which it is printed. The scale can differ in the horizontal and vertical directions.
There exists a need, therefore, for a shoe sizing system that is easy to use and accurate, enabling a consumer to quickly size a shoe without the need for trying on the shoe. Preferably, this should enable the consumer to size a shoe remotely.
In a first aspect, the present invention relates to a method for determining the fit of a selected shoe, comprising:
obtaining a set of foot measurements including foot length, foot width and foot metatarsal length;
selecting a shoe;
obtaining a set of shoe measurements for the selected shoe, the set of shoe measurements including shoe length, shoe width and shoe metatarsal length;
comparing the shoe measurements with the foot measurements; and
generating at least one fit indicator based on the comparison.
In a preferred embodiment of the first aspect, the step of obtaining foot measurements comprises the steps of:
providing a foot sizing chart having an unknown scale;
obtaining a set of raw foot data using the foot sizing chart;
obtaining a set of normalizing information using the foot sizing chart; and
calculating the set of foot measurements from the raw foot data and the normalizing information.
In another preferred embodiment of the first aspect, the step of obtaining foot measurements comprises the steps of:
providing a scanner;
obtaining a scanned foot image using the scanner; and
determining the foot measurements from the scanned image.
In another preferred embodiment of the first aspect, the shoes and the foot are remote from each other.
In a second aspect, the present invention relates to a method for determining the fit of a selected shoe, comprising:
obtaining a set of foot measurements including foot length, foot width and foot heel width;
selecting a shoe;
obtaining a set of shoe measurements for the selected shoe, the set of shoe measurements including shoe length, shoe width and shoe heel width;
comparing the shoe measurements with the foot measurements; and
generating at least one fit indicator based on the comparison.
In a third aspect, the present invention relates to a method for determining the fit of a selected shoe, comprising:
providing a scanner;
obtaining a scanned foot image using the scanner;
determining a set of foot measurements from the scanned image, the set of foot measurements including foot length and foot width;
selecting a shoe;
obtaining a set of shoe measurements for the selected shoe, the set of shoe measurements including shoe length and shoe width;
comparing the shoe measurements with the foot measurements; and
generating at least one fit indicator based on the comparison.
In a fourth aspect, the present invention relates to a method for determining the fit of a selected shoe, comprising:
providing a foot sizing chart having an unknown scale;
obtaining a set of raw foot data using the foot sizing chart;
obtaining a set of normalizing information using the foot sizing chart;
calculating a set of foot measurements from the raw foot data and the normalizing information, the set of foot measurements including foot length and foot width;
selecting a shoe;
obtaining a set of shoe measurements for the selected shoe, the set of shoe measurements including shoe length and shoe width;
comparing the shoe measurements with the foot measurements; and
generating at least one fit indicator based on the comparison.